diff --git a/extra/rust/build b/extra/rust/build
index 04577355..61a50dae 100755
--- a/extra/rust/build
+++ b/extra/rust/build
@@ -6,14 +6,14 @@ for p in *.patch; do
     patch -p1 < "$p"
 done
 
+: "${AR:=ar}"
+: "${CC:=cc}"
+
 mkdir _lib
 
 (
     cd _lib
 
-    : "${AR:=ar}"
-    : "${CC:=cc}"
-
     $CC ../liblfs64.c -c -fPIC -o liblfs64.o
     $AR rcs liblfs64.a liblfs64.o